SATURDAY'S SCORES
@#23 Southeast Missouri 38, Eastern Illinois 32
Eastern Kentucky 37, @Tennessee Tech 6
@Tennessee State 31, UT Martin 28 (OT)
@Austin Peay 48, Murray State 23
#2 Kennesaw State 60,
#6 Jacksonville State 52 (5OT) (SunTrust Park – Atlanta, Ga.)
#23 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 38, EASTERN ILLINOIS 32
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Freshman Zion Custis returned a 97-yard kickoff for a touchdown after Eastern Illinois (3-8, 3-5) pulled within a score late in the game to allow #23 Southeast Missouri (8-3, 6-2) to hang on for a 38-32 victory in its regular season finale Saturday at Houck Field.
Harry Woodbery completed a 7-yard pass to Alexander Hollins to narrow SEMO's lead to 30-24. On the next play, Custis went 97 yards to the end zone for the decisive score. It tied for the second-longest kickoff return in school history.
The Panthers didn't go down quietly, edging SEMO, 25-21, in the second half. Combined, the two teams scored 33 fourth-quarter points.
EIU caught SEMO off-guard with an onside kick following a 35-yard field goal by Nick Bruno in the third quarter. Camden Meade recovered the ball after it bounced off a Redhawk player at the Panthers 28-yard line.
Eight plays later, John Brantley scored on an 8-yard run to cap a 72-yard drive and get EIU to within three (20-17) at the 1:40 mark.
SEMO answered by marching 67 yards in nine plays and pulled ahead, 27-17, on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Santacaterina to Kristian Wilkerson 1:18 into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers went three-and-out the next time they had the ball and SEMO then tacked on three more points courtesy of a 32-yard field goal by Kendrick Tiller. Tiller's field goal came just before Hollins' TD.
SEMO's defense put made a big fourth down stand at its own 2-yard line when Justin Swift forced Woodbery to throw an incomplete pass with 4:46 left to play in the game.
EIU did, however, score once more with 34 seconds remaining.
The Panthers scored the game's first touchdown on a 72-yard pass from Brantley to Hollins on the third play of their first drive. Hollins got behind SEMO's defender along the near sideline and headed to the end zone to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead with 12:16 left to play in the opening quarter.
SEMO responded with 17 unanswered points to take a 17-7 lead halftime.
Tiller kicked a 34-yard field goal to cap a 6-play, 13-yard drive. Marquis Terry followed with an 11-yard touchdown run and Mark Robinson scored from a yard out on a fourth-and-Goal right before the intermission.
Santacaterina completed 30-of-38 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown, his Ohio Valley Conference high 25thTD pass of the season.
Custis ran for 77 yards on 11 carries and Robinson followed with 49 yards on 16 attempts. He finished with 254 all-purpose yards with 180 on kick returns.
Terry was limited to just five carries for 22 yards (all in the first quarter) due to concussion-like symptoms. He did not play the final three quarters of the game.
Kobe Bryer led SEMO's receiving corps with nine catches for 59 yards as the Redhawk offense went its seventh game without a turnover this year.
Defensively, Zach Hall fell one tackle shy of tying SEMO's single-season record of 151 stops. He turned in a game-high 16 tackles to increase his total to 150 in 11 starts. Demarcus Rogers and Swift followed with 10 tackles apiece. Both Rogers and Swift forced a fumble, while Swift had three big pass breakups as well.
Isaiah Johnson rushed for 105 yards and Brantley threw for 179 yards and a touchdown to lead EIU.
The Panthers outgained the Redhawks, 494-371, in total yards.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 37, TENNESSEE TECH 6
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Kentucky University’s football team picked up its seventh win of the season after dispatching Tennessee Tech University, 37-6, on Saturday at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville.
The defense got off to a good start and anchored EKU throughout the game, holding the Golden Eagles to 237 yards of offense and forcing four turnovers.
Eastern forced punts on TTU’s first four possessions. With a 3-0 lead midway through the second quarter, the Colonels allowed the only Golden Eagle sustained drive of the first half. Tech tied it on a 45-yarder to finish a 10-play 54 yard drive.
Freshman quarterback Parker McKinney had the answer for Eastern Kentucky. He drove the visitors 72 yards on 13 plays over 5:51. On 4th-and-4, McKinney hooked up with BK Smith over the middle for 10 yards to the Tech 22 yard line. L.J. Scott carried for six yards and then caught a screen pass and turned it into a 7-yard gain. McKinney found Jackson Beerman for six yards over the middle to get to the three yard line. After a TTU timeout, McKinney rolled to the right, tucked the ball, broke a tackle and scored his first rushing touchdown of the season.
On the first play of the ensuing Golden Eagle possession, Tre Turner forced a fumble and recovered it at the TTU 25 with 54 seconds left in the second quarter. Samuel Hayworth finished the half by hitting his second field goal, this one from 33 yards for a 13-3 EKU lead.
The Colonels (7-4, 5-2 OVC) put the game away early in the third quarter. Jared Tucker intercepted a pass on the opening possession of the second half to give Eastern the ball at the TTU 38 yard line. McKinney capped off a 5-play drive with a fourth-down, 8-yard pass to Daryl McCleskey Jr. The extra point made it 20-3.
Eastern put up 17 points in the fourth quarter. McKinney hit Dan Paul from 11 yards out for a touchdown. TJ Comstock picked off a pass and returned it 27 yards for a score in the final two minutes.
McKinney finished 31-of-42 for 333 yards and threw two touchdown passes. Smith caught 12 of those passes for 163 yards.
Aaron Patrick and Gavin Bryant led the team with six tackles each. Patrick had two tackles for a loss, including a sack.
TENNESSEE STATE 31, UT MARTIN 28 (OT)
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State football team capped the 2018 season in style with a 31-28 overtime victory over UT Martin on Senior Day at Hale Stadium in Ohio Valley Conference play.
With the score tied at 25-25 at the end of regulation, TSU (4-5, 3-4 OVC) forced UT Martin (2-9, 2-6 OVC) into a field goal on the first possession of overtime. Getting the ball back, TSU redshirt junior quarterback Cameron Rosendahl hit DeVon Johnson in the back of the endzone from four yards out for the game-winning touchdown. It was the third touchdown connection between Rosendahl and Johnson on the night.
In his first career start, Rosendahl finished 15-of-22 for 170 yards and three touchdowns.
Freshman linebacker Jahsun Bryant finished with a team-high 11 tackles for TSU, while junior cornerback Dajour Nesbeth had an interception and eight tackles on the night.
AUSTIN PEAY 48, MURRAY STATE 23
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall threw a pair of touchdown passes to DeAngelo Wilson and DJ Montgomery as Austin Peay pulled away from Murray State, 48-23, Saturday night, in an Ohio Valley Conference contest at Fortera Stadium.
The Senior Day victory was the second straight by the Govs in the series. Coupled with its 27-7 win a year ago in Murray, Austin Peay has won two straight in the series for the first time since 1977-78. It also was the third highest point total by the Govs in the series and the most since 1968.
T
he win also allowed the Governors to finish 5-6 overall, the same as Murray State. It was the Governors third Ohio Valley Conference victory this season while the Racers ended 5-3.
Oatsvall finished the contest 15 of 23 for 193 yards and four TDs. The sophomore Wilson finished with a team-best seven catches for 99 yards—his two TD passes gave him seven for the season while the senior Montgomery had a trio for 49 yards—his two touchdown hauls gave him 10 in 2018. They became the first pair of Governors in history to tally seven or more TD catches in the same season.
Junior running back Kentel Williams also helped balance the offense with 118 yards on 18 carries, his 46-yard fourth-quarter TD run breaking open the contest at 34-23. Williams finished with 964 yards rushing this season, despite missing two early–season games.
Defensively, the Govs limited graduate transfer quarterback Drew Anderson to 23-of-47 passing for 247 yards—he threw for 412 yards last week against Southeast Missouri. APSU also picked off Anderson three times, the last by Trent Taylor being returned 71 yards for the final score.
In addition, the Governors limited Murray State’s running game to just 80 yards and outgained the Racers 447 yards to 327.
After stopping Murray State on a fourth-and-one on the game’s first possession, the Governors took over just short of midfield. It took just six plays for the Governors to take the early lead. Taking advantage of their running game—38 yards of the drive came via the rush—the final 12 came from Prince Momodu, who picked his way through the Racer defense to go untouched for the score—his fifth rushing TD this season.
After stopping Murray State on its second drive, the Governors, after a penalty, started on their own 5-yard line. But the Govs would not be deterred by the field position. On first down, Oatsvall quickly moved the Govs from their hole, throwing 16 yards to tight end Trey Pruitt, who made his season’s first catch out to the 21.
He hit D.J. Montgomery for 14 yards after another Govs penalty. Then Oatsvall hit Wilson with back-to-back passes, including a 23-yard catch and run. After three consecutive runs put the ball at Races’ 32, Oatsvall found Wilson across the middle, and like Momodu earlier, picked his way into the end zone untouched for another Governors score, his sixth this season. The Govs had an early 14-0 lead.
But the Racers finally answered with a season-high 50-yard goal by Gabriel Vicente. And then Murray took advantage of an APSU fumble in its own territory, with Don Parker returning it to the APSU five-yard line. Although the defense and a penalty forced the Racers back to the 14, Anderson erased the issues with a 14-yard TD pass to Malik Huneycutt to cut the deficit to 14-10 as the first quarter ended.
After the Governors were forced to punt, with Murray State taking over at the 40-yard line, Keawvis Cummings speared a one-handed interception on a tipped pass, giving the Govs the ball at the Murray State 46. Seven plays later, Oatsvall found Montgomery on a jump ball in the end zone. That ensuing extra point gave the Govs a 21-10 lead.
Right before half, Murray State cut the deficit to 21-17 as Anderson connected for two yards for a score to Rodney Castille, culminating a seven-play, 71-yard drive in just 50 seconds.
In the third period, it appeared Murray State was poised to take the lead when an Austin Peay bad handoff exchange gave the Racers the ball at the APSU 45. But one of those “you had to see it to believe” plays occurred. On first down from the APSU 28, the Racers’ Rodney Castille ran for two yards to the Govs’ 26. Junior defensive end Jaison Williams stripped him from the ball, recovered it and started the other way. Racer receiver Sylvaughn Turner caught up to Williams across midfield and stripped him of the ball, falling on it. But during Williams return a personal foul penalty was called, negating the Racer recovery and giving the Govs the ball at the Racer 33 after the penalty.
The Govs then returned to the run game on six of the next eight plays, but it was one of the two passing plays that resulted in an APSU score as Oatsvall found Wilson for a second time, this one from four yards out to give the Govs a 28-17 lead.
An 80-yard Malik Huneycutt punt return kept the Racers in the game at 28-23, but Williams’ TD run with 6:32 left returned momentum to the Govs and they never relinquished it. Two more Governors touchdowns followed to send out the 18 APSU seniors on a winning note.
#2 KENNESAW STATE 60, #6 JACKSONVILLE STATE 52 (5OT)
ATLANTA - Jacksonville State head coach John Grass summed up what the crowd of 17,124 for the first-ever football game at SunTrust Park experienced after witnessing No. 2 Kennesaw State's 60-52 quintuple-overtime victory on Saturday.
"It was a classic football game," Grass said in the Gamecocks' locker room. "You can play the game a long time and not be in one like that.
"I thought we had it won about 10 times. We should have won the game in regulation and just didn't get it done. Both teams left everything they had out there on the field."
Zerrick Cooper accounted for 423 total yards and completed the most passes (32) ever by a Jacksonville State quarterback in what was easily the longest game in JSU history. Cooper had four touchdown passes and Leander Burrowes rushed for a pair of scores as the Gamecocks outgained the Owls 519-425.
Jacksonville State (8-3), which clinched its fifth consecutive OVC championship and an automatic bid last week, finds out its playoff destination Sunday at 11:30 a.m. during the FCS Selection Show on ESPNU.
Cooper threw for a career-high 417 yards - tying Montressa Kirby (1997) for the second-most ever in a single game - and now has 2,825 yards this season, breaking Kirby's previous mark of 2,817.
The superlatives were numerous for the Gamecocks against the Owls (10-1).
Jamari Hester had a career-high 12 catches for 109 yards, including TD receptions of 43 and 25 yards. Trae Barry snagged five passes for 115 yards, marking the first time two Gamecocks surpassed the 100-yard milestone in a game since 2015.
Jaelen Greene ran for 92 tough yards on 15 carries, a season high. Burrowes contributed two touchdowns by taking direct snaps and scoring on short runs.
The Gamecocks established the tone early with a 16-play, 75-yard drive that consumed nearly 8 minutes to start the game. JSU extended its lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter as Michael Matthews ran 12 yards to the end zone.
Kennesaw State cut the deficit to 14-10 by halftime, then opened the third quarter with a short touchdown drive to take its first lead at the 11:58 mark.
Jacksonville State answered with Cade Stinnett's 29-yard field goal and Hester's 43-yard touchdown catch in a span of less than five minutes to carry a 24-17 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Owls forced Jacksonville State's first overtime game since 2015 with a 72-yard march late in the fourth quarter. Chandler Burks' 1-yard run and the ensuing extra point tied it at 24-24 as regulation ended.